Quotes of the day

posted at 10:11 pm on June 18, 2013 by Allahpundit

It is painful to watch Marco Rubio’s maneuverings on immigration. He is refusing to say whether he will vote “yes” on his own Gang of Eight bill after spending months drafting, defending, and helping shepherd it to the floor. He has supposedly discovered that the enforcement provisions are inadequate, although he has done countless interviews touting that the bill contains the “toughest immigration-enforcement measures in the history of United States” (which is what his website still says). At the same time, Rubio declares the bill 95–96 percent perfect…

Beyond its treatment of illegal immigrants, the very large expansion in legal immigration that the bill would establish is problematic as well. While there are some persuasive economic arguments in favor of expanding legal immigration, the United States is a nation with an economy, not an economy with a nation. Our failure to fully assimilate new immigrants over the past several decades is not a reflection of our inability but our unwillingness to do so. That some are arguing for this bill as a necessary political sop to Hispanic voters is indicative of the toxic ethnic politics that we should be working to eliminate — and that radically higher levels of immigration would almost certainly entrench.

His specific complaint: that GOP Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, a fellow member of the Senate “gang of eight” who had spent months drafting a bipartisan immigration reform bill, seemed to be backing away from the legislation.

Rubio said that its border enforcement provisions need to be strengthened — and that he might oppose the bill if he didn’t get strong enough revised language. This infuriated and exasperated Graham, who had joined the gang in the first place to try to do a good legislative deed and also to protect himself politically.

***

Senator Marco Rubio declined to say who in his office told The New Yorker’s Ryan Lizza that “there are some American workers who, for lack of a better term, can’t cut it” and downplayed the importance of the now-controversial quote.

“I’m the senator. It’s my bill. I’m the one that votes on these things. I’m the one that makes decisions. Whatever other people want to opine or say to a reporter or somebody else, I can’t control that,” Rubio said…

“I’ve never viewed a guest-worker program as a way to replace Americans,” he added. ”I viewed it as a way for industries to be able to find labor in those industries where there is a shortage of domestic labor.”

***

“I support Senator Thune’s efforts to require completion of double layered border fencing,” Rubio said in a statement after voting against the amendment. “Properly deployed, these fences have proven highly effective in limiting illegal crossings. That is why the current bill requires $1.5 billion be spent specifically on a border fence plan.”

“However, his amendment does not detail a specific border plan,” Rubio claimed. “Therefore, I opposed his amendment and instead continue to work with my Republican colleagues to arrive at a new measure that improves on the significant border security measures already in the bill.”

***

In a free market, if a new immigrant worker can do a job better than an American worker for a cheaper price, there shouldn’t be a problem with a business hiring the immigrant. But when the immigration bill interacts with Obamacare’s employer mandate, it functions as a reverse tariff against hiring American citizens. It would be like subjecting Americans to a $3,000 tax on purchasing American cars, while allowing them to avoid that tax by purchasing cars from Germany, Japan, or any other country other than America. That’s not free trade. That’s government rigging the game against American citizens.

Sadly, Rubio, who is losing more and more credibility by the day among conservatives, has shown absolutely no leadership on trying to resolve this problem. When I first reported on the issue in April, Rubio spokesman Alex Conant responded that this was the sort of technical problem that could be fixed through amendments as the bill moved through the legislative process. But the issue was never addressed in the more than 200 amendments offered before the Senate Judiciary committee. None of the listed amendments filed since the bill made it to the Senate floor last week tackle the problem either. Despite this, Rubio declared on Sunday, “I think 95, 96 percent of the bill is in perfect shape and ready to go.” I don’t even think Obama would make such an audacious statement about Obamacare to this day.

***

Rohrabacher blasted his GOP colleague Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), a member of the Gang of Eight, for his part in pushing immigration reform.

“Rubio is so confused and so mixed up I think that he has given up his rightful place to advise any of us in Washington what to do, and certainly given up any right to be trusted by the American people,” he said. “It was over and over, contradiction after contradiction, lie after lie.”

***

Andrea Tantaros asked Sessions on her radio show to respond to reports that Rubio has not been seen with the Gang of Eight in public in over two months. “That’s odd,” Sessions said. “He is the one that’s in everybody’s homes running the ads. Makes you want to say ‘Marco, there’s somebody on the television pretending to be you, saying vote for the bill that you recently said shouldn’t pass in its current form.’”

***

Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, which strongly opposes the Gang’s bill, says Cruz seems reluctant to play a leading role in the immigration debate. “My sense is Cruz is kind of ambivalent,” Krikorian tells National Review Online. “Not ambivalent necessarily on amnesty — he’s pretty convinced that’s a bad idea — but he doesn’t seem to want to be the face of immigration hawkishness.”…

Still, some think Cruz may be wary of leading the opposition to an effort led by Senator Marco Rubio. “He really has wanted to avoid just turning the debate into a Cruz versus Rubio Hispanic rumble in the GOP,” Krikorian says. Indeed, Cruz has directed most of his criticism at Senate Democrats and President Obama, whom he called “the biggest obstacle to passing commonsense immigration reform.” If Cruz is trying to steer clear of the contrast with Rubio, it’s been successful. The press corps would typically salivate over such a conflict, but it has not received much attention, although USA Today did publish (in May) an article titled “Rubio vs. Cruz: Hispanic Conservatives Battle for GOP’s Soul.”

Republican Party of Florida Chairman Lenny Curry countered that whatever the complexities of Rubio’s decision to go all-in on immigration, it ought to remove any suspicion among his critics that the senator’s too green for national leadership.

“As a new senator, I would think that if there were anywhere people would try to attack him, they might say: ‘What have you done?’” Curry said. “The guy has stuck his neck out, literally stuck his neck out on a big issue. It’s demonstrating leadership and I think it’s what people are looking for.”

Curry added: “I think it helps him and I think it helps the Republican brand.”

***

Rubio’s push on immigration reform is going to get him some insider credit. Faith and Freedom Coalition President Ralph Reed looks favorably upon Rubio’s push. Most donors like Rubio’s new role. He’s also bound to win plaudits from the GOP establishment in the Senate, which is pushing for immigration reform. Overall, this is definitely the correct move for a person who might otherwise be seen as too “outsidery”.

Immigration reform has the additional advantage of being seen as a moderating force. It’s backed by most Americans and is generally supported by the party establishment because it’s seen (rightly or wrongly) as an electoral winner…

At the same time, Rubio can point to other issues where he is an outsider conservative, such as the debt ceiling. Rubio is proving, perhaps, that he knows how to balance the wings of his party correctly.

Blowback

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Amigos – comrades – muchachos – friends, we are gathered here as an edifice of the great glory that is now vanishing and the intuitive feeling, based on the assumption as Mencken once said, “He who underestimates the American public will never go broke.” This is merely a small indication to behold and to perceive that which has gone way into the behind and to that which might project .. I mean go forward … out of the mouth … i mean .. the future…we’ve got to rip up the constitution so we can rip down those outdated borders! This is the main deterrent upon which we have gathered our strength and all the others who say, “What the hell did that get?” – We don’t yet know.

Clearly today we must all be aware that political expediency and latino ethnicity takes precedence over rule of law and constitutional procedure. However you say – WTF ! – what does this mean… in relation to the tabulation whereby we must once again realize that the great reconquesta story is now being rehearsed before our very eyes, in the rise of Marco Rubio… indicating that only a two-faced … I mean a bi-faced … I mean a bi-polar … I mean a bi-lingual hombre can receive…the award for reconquesta, unlike Kenyan Hussein Obama whose reconquesta plans don’t drink water.

And as Miller once said in one of his great novels- what did he … that language is only necessary when bilingual communication is endangered. And you sit there bewildered, and Pinter who went further said “It is not the lack of communication, but fear of communication.” That’s what the damn thing is that we fear – communication – especially all the Spanish communication that’s even on a box of Wheaties now. Damn it! And through all this Mark Levin and Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity have attained, and have created for themselves serenity, and it is only their cognitive dissonance that is keeping them alive in their mindless absurdity.

Senors y Senoritas, Ladies and Gentlemen. The time will come when a first world America will outlive its usefulness. Marx, either Groucho or Karl, I can’t remember which, maybe it was both or maybe it was Harpo, once said that America is the opiate of the people. I say that when America outlives its usefulness and becomes a majority latino nation , then opium…will be the opiate…Ahh that’s not a bad idea… we are going to need that badly especially when the booze runs out …

And the completely unbiased and bi-partisan panel, has determined to give the grand prize to Marco Rubio for his EARNESTY’S RAINBOW. Now EARNESTY’S RAINBOW is a token of this man’s genius…he told me so himself and repeatedly … that he could change perceptions by calling his plan for knocking down those pesky borders EARNESTY …in other words, he could have been more specific, but rather than allude to an articulation of the mundane, he has come to the conclusion that brevity is the importance of our nation’s shallow first world existence. God damn!

Marco Rubio’s . EARNESTY’S RAINBOW – is a small contribuion to a certain degree, since there are over seven billion people in the world today. 450 of them … million live in the United States and Mexico which is a very, very small amount compared to those who will be miserable and dying elsewhere…Well, I say that you will be on the road to new horizons, for we who live in a society where citizenship is a commodity and a politician can become a TV personality, it’s not easy to conform if you have any morality…I, I, I said that myself many years ago…

But I do want to thank la Raza…I mean the RNC … I mean the DNC and it’s subsidiary the RNC, the organization for the $1,000 in affirmative action latino scholarships they’ve given out…tonight they took in over $4,000,000, but they do have expenses for their consultants you know, and I think that I have another appointment. I would like to stay here, but for the sake of brevity I, I must leave. I do want to thank you, and I want to thank Marco Rubio – acting el Presidenta of la Raza Mexiamerica and also Mr. Obama – acting Pharaoh and Spy Master and Drone Commander of the World – and also I want to thank Professor Irwin Corey and again, thank you. …
..

People, you need to understand that the immigration debate isn’t really about immigration. It is about avoiding a debate on Social Security.

Currently 20% of the US workforce is within 10 years of or has surpassed retirement age (age 55 and older). As the US birth rate declines, the number of new workers entering the workforce is rapidly declining as the number who are nearing exit of the workforce rapidly grows. From 2000 to 2010 the workforce from 16 to 24 years old shrank from 15.8% of the workforce to 13.6% and is projected to shrink to 11.6% by 2020. In other words, we see a declining number of new workers “in the pipeline”. The number of workers 55 and older in 2000 was 13.1% of the workforce and grew to 19.5% by 2010 and is expected to be at 25.2% of the workforce by 2020. In some industries the problem is even worse. Over half of America’s farmers are over 55 years old.

The Social Security disability fund is already running severely cash negative and the trust fund for that portion of Social Security is currently projected to run dry in 2016. That means in 2016 there will be no money to pay disability benefits beyond what is paid in from payroll taxes. That will mean that no new disability applications can be accepted, at all.

The Social Security Retirement trust fund is currently projected (as of May 2013) to go completely broke in about 13 years from now in 2026.

Neither the Republicans nor the Democrats want to open the Pandora’s box of Social Security reform. The last such attempt was by Bush in 2005 and it went exactly nowhere and it was demagoged by both parties. So they are attempting to avoid that entire conversation by pushing through what they hope will be the mass importation of a bunch of workers to pay for the mass of people reaching retirement.

This really isn’t about “border security” and it isn’t about “amnesty” and it isn’t about being “sensitive” to Latinos. This is about avoiding a discussion on Social Security by making a desperate effort to try to put a bunch of people on the tax rolls.

Democrats will not support a “fertility” path to more workers and Republicans won’t support death panels to kill off retirees. Immigration is the only way we are going to get anywhere near enough workers on the tax rolls without Social Security reform or at least the only way we can kick the can down the road a ways.

So … immigration reform is a compromise so they can avoid a discussion on Social Security reform.

“I support Senator Thune’s efforts to require completion of double layered border fencing,” Rubio said in a statement after voting against the amendment. “Properly deployed, these fences have proven highly effective in limiting illegal crossings. That is why the current bill requires $1.5 billion be spent specifically on a border fence plan.”

Jeez Rubio. Why can’t someone, anyone primary him NOW? Glad this guy is not a democrat. You are either for the amendment that discriminates against immigrants or you are not. This guy is all over the place.

Well, he’s definitely trading off one voting bloc for another with no assurance the replacement bloc will vote for him in the kind of numbers he’ll need to offset the loss. Christie is doing the same thing only in a different way. Hey, McCain and Mitt did it and look how well it worked out.

Hello, my name is Elbert Lee Guillory, and I’m the senator for the twenty-fourth district right here in beautiful Louisiana. Recently I made what many are referring to as a ‘bold decision’ to switch my party affiliation to the Republican Party. I wanted to take a moment to explain why I became a Republican, and also to explain why I don’t think it was a bold decision at all. It is the right decision — not only for me — but for all my brothers and sisters in the black community.

You see, in recent history the Democrat Party has created the illusion that their agenda and their policies are what’s best for black people. Somehow it’s been forgotten that the Republican Party was founded in 1854 as an abolitionist movement with one simple creed: that slavery is a violation of the rights of man.

Frederick Douglass called Republicans the ‘Party of freedom and progress,’ and the first Republican president was Abraham Lincoln, the author of the Emancipation Proclamation. It was the Republicans in Congress who authored the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth amendments giving former slaves citizenship, voting rights, and due process of law.

The Democrats on the other hand were the Party of Jim Crow. It was Democrats who defended the rights of slave owners. It was the Republican President Dwight Eisenhower who championed the Civil Rights Act of 1957, but it was Democrats in the Senate who filibustered the bill.

You see, at the heart of liberalism is the idea that only a great and powerful big government can be the benefactor of social justice for all Americans. But the left is only concerned with one thing — control. And they disguise this control as charity. Programs such as welfare, food stamps, these programs aren’t designed to lift black Americans out of poverty, they were always intended as a mechanism for politicians to control black the black community.

The idea that blacks, or anyone for that matter, need the the government to get ahead in life is despicable. And even more important, this idea is a failure. Our communities are just as poor as they’ve always been. Our schools continue to fail children. Our prisons are filled with young black men who should be at home being fathers. Our self-initiative and our self-reliance have been sacrificed in exchange for allegiance to our overseers who control us by making us dependent on them.

Sometimes I wonder if the word freedom is tossed around so frequently in our society that it has become a cliché.

The idea of freedom is complex and it is all-encompassing. It’s the idea that the economy must remain free of government persuasion. It’s the idea that the press must operate without government intrusion. And it’s the idea that the emails and phone records of Americans should remain free from government search and seizure. It’s the idea that parents must be the decision makers in regards to their children’s education — not some government bureaucrat.

But most importantly, it is the idea that the individual must be free to pursue his or her own happiness free from government dependence and free from government control. Because to be truly free is to be reliant on no one other than the author of our destiny. These are the ideas at the core of the Republican Party, and it is why I am a Republican.

So my brothers and sisters of the American community, please join with me today in abandoning the government plantation and the Party of disappointment. So that we may all echo the words of one Republican leader who famously said, ‘free at last, free at last, thank God Almighty, we are free at last.’

The GOP built on Money, Militarism, and the Ministry is self destructive…

The ideology of the Wall Street Journal(not the same as the GOP) is collapsing because it is built on a ridiculous view of human nature. You can’t preach patriotism and economic interchangeableness… you can’t preach for the national security state and preach for the interchangeableness of the demos.

I heard the new GOP chairman on the airwaves here in Columbia, SC this afternoon. He’s a 31 year old fresh face. However, a caller asked about primary-ing Graham. He refused to repudiate Graham, but did say the South Carolina GOP “welcomes primary challengers”. Hmmmmmmmm

I have tried to find a reason why Rubio would throw away a shot at being president by stubbornly clinging to Amnesty along with fellow Republican eccentrics Lindsey Graham (who loves being spied upon)and John McCain (who loves going to war for the wrong side) but nothing makes any sense unless he plans to flip and become a Democrat.

There is no good news in Amnesty (except for the illegals).

1 America does not need the unskilled laborers that millions of naturalized illegals represent.Welfare will escalate.
2 Any government estimate of cost savings has always been wrong and has always gone deeply in the opposite direction and Amnesty is no exception–maybe 4-5 trillion extra.
3 The 11 million illegal alien estimate was deliberately low-balled–the figure is probably double that.
4 For every illegal naturalized, two or three more will slip into the country, greatly encouraged by the amnesty process.
5 A bilingual contra-culture will develop deeply dividing the country along ethnic lines.
6 The crime rate will soar.
7 The Southwestern states may permanently be beyond the reach of republicans in the not-too-distant future and that includes Texas.

I have tried to find a reason why Rubio would throw away a shot at being president by stubbornly clinging to Amnesty along with fellow Republican eccentrics Lindsey Graham (who loves being spied upon)and John McCain (who loves going to war for the wrong side) but nothing makes any sense unless he plans to flip and become a Democrat.

Since ALyT and other righties get banned while the slime ball trolls get to keep stinkin’ the place up.

cozmo on June 18, 2013 at 10:42 PM

Where will you be found? Think I’m looking for a new neighborhood – this one’s got the blight, getting worse, and the HOA apparently doesn’t give a wet crap.

Midas on June 18, 2013 at 10:44 PM

AosHQ does pretty well, and it’s apparently not based here so it’s no holds barred. They do well at ignoring trolls like HAL, LFOD, LFL, UES…etc. They don’t ban them, they just don’t get fed so they leave. A lesson HA could benefit from…..

So you admit you’re here just to agitate. Got it, thanks for the admission.

ManWithNoParty on June 18, 2013 at 10:44 PM

The Kookaid idiot is yet to make any sensible comment on this blog. Only way he knows how to respond to people he disagrees with is through sexual insinuations. Same MO with every liberal and moderate on this blog.

I disagree with RWM but at least she has some smarts. This Kookaid is a nonentity who deserves no respect in my book.

I know..as of late I feel like I may literally burst into flames.
I have cut done on my reading consumption.
Insanity 360 degrees.

bazil9 on June 18, 2013 at 10:45 PM

Yep … I’m getting really fed up with it myself also. Cut down on my reading and I’m starting to tune out the radio talk shows, too — just rehashing the same old, same old without any end in sight and no concrete way to do anything about it is wearing on my nerves big time.

Cut down on my reading and I’m starting to tune out the radio talk shows, too — just rehashing the same old, same old without any end in sight and no concrete way to do anything about it is wearing on my nerves big time.

PatriotGal2257 on June 18, 2013 at 10:52 PM

Here as well; I don’t listen to GB, but heard a clip that was just like something Levin’s doing now – “… and we’ll be talking in more detail about that in months to come…”

I’m yelling at the radio, “WTF? Month’s to come? Why?”

Then it occurs – I’ll bet he has a new book coming out… in a few months…

Then one day last week, there it is – new book coming out that’s going to address all of this in detail, “… and we’ll be talking in more detail about that in months to come…”

Rubio’s push on immigration reform is going to get him some insider credit. Faith and Freedom Coalition President Ralph Reed looks favorably upon Rubio’s push. Most donors like Rubio’s new role. He’s also bound to win plaudits from the GOP establishment in the Senate, which is pushing for immigration reform. Overall, this is definitely the correct move for a person who might otherwise be seen as too “outsidery”.

Great ambition is the passion of a great character. Those endowed with it may perform very good or very bad acts. All depends on the principles which direct them.

Napoleon Bonaparte

Marco Rubio’s ambition to be President has overcome any principles to which he once could lay claim.

He “triangulated” himself completely away from those who put him in the Senate in order to win the favor of the major party donors and the GOP Establishment.

In January, this MAY have been the smartest move one could make. Obama was being painted as transcendent by the LSM which was simulataneously painting the GOP as completely out of the picture.

Fortunately for conservatives, which Marco Rubio can no longer number himself as one, the tide turned in April and has overwhelmed the LSM narrative – exposing Obama for the hypocritical Chicago thug we always knew him to be.

The “immigration crisis” is the last meme standing in the LSM/liberal narrative.

“Something must be done!” these political carrion cry out.

The carrion know ObamaCare is coming and is going to upset the Washington Establishment’s apple carts as it pulls the economy into a depression.

If the can’t get this immigrration travesty passed now … they know it will never pass.

ManWithNoParty on June 18, 2013 at 10:56 PM
Your opinion which I disagree with is fine. Better than always responding to every post with a sexual reference.That is what that other idiot does every day.
HotAirLib on June 18, 2013 at 11:04 PM